New Delhi Bureau
In the biggest-ever push for cleaning the Yamuna, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 22 inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 43 Delhi Jal Board (DJB) projects worth ₹8,941.22 crore. The programme was held at Shyam Nagar Phase-1 in Delhi, in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Shah said the target of cleaning the Yamuna would be achieved in the next two and a half years — a statement made as his claim, not as an established fact.
The ₹8,941-crore package — what it includes
Of the 43 projects, 10 worth ₹2,827.11 crore were inaugurated (completed), while foundation stones were laid for 33 projects worth ₹6,114.11 crore. The package targets every route through which filth reaches the Yamuna — sewage treatment, sewer networks, water purification and trunk drains.
The Delhi Jal Board is the agency responsible for water supply and sewerage management in the national capital. Untreated sewage flowing through drains into the river is the biggest source of Yamuna’s pollution. The core objective of these projects, as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said at the event, is to ensure that sewer water does not reach the Yamuna without treatment.
Okhla’s new STP and the sewer network expansion
Among the largest projects is a new 124 MGD (million gallons per day) sewage treatment plant at Okhla, costing ₹1,161 crore. Eight existing STPs will be upgraded at ₹1,041 crore, raising their capacity from 78.2 MGD to 140.8 MGD and benefiting 78.5 lakh people.
In addition, 1,034 km of sewer network will be laid at a cost of ₹1,691 crore. A 477 MLD water treatment plant at Chandrawal (₹298.3 crore) will replace facilities dating back to 1935 and 1955, supplying clean water to 22 lakh people. A 4.5-km trunk drain will also be built at Mundka (₹225.02 crore).
Reaching unauthorised colonies and villages
A significant aspect of the plan is that it reaches areas so far outside the sewerage system. Twenty-nine decentralised STPs and sewage pumping stations (₹3,113.67 crore) will cover 36.29 lakh residents of 358 unauthorised colonies and 113 villages.
A large share of the Yamuna’s pollution comes from untreated sewage from these very settlements, where piped sewerage never reached. Decentralised STPs mean small plants treating sewage locally instead of carrying it to distant large plants — a model considered practical for areas where laying big pipelines is difficult.
Shah’s claim and the 2.5-year target
At the programme, Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the vision for Yamuna cleaning within a month of the government being formed in Delhi. He also said that “more than 40 per cent of the work of reducing pollution” was already complete, and that the cleaning target would be met in the next two and a half years. This is his statement and claim — independent verification is still awaited.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the thrust of this entire arrangement is that sewerage water should not flow into the Yamuna untreated. The government’s argument is that the Yamuna cannot be cleaned until all sewage reaching the river is treated first. This statement reflects the government’s stated position.
From ‘Chalo Yamuna’ to 43 projects — the background
The package did not come out of nowhere. On October 18, under the ‘Chalo Yamuna’ campaign, more than 35,000 people removed 76,755 kg of waste from 70 ghats — according to Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh. More than 10 departments, including the PWD, MCD, DJB, Delhi Police and DDMA, took part.
Four days after that public campaign, 43 projects have now been inaugurated or launched — the government is cleaning ghats through public participation on one hand, and investing heavily in permanent infrastructure on the other. This two-pronged strategy looks different from past Yamuna efforts, which were often limited to either campaigns or announcements alone.
What next — the 2.5-year test
The real test now is the timely completion of the 33 new projects whose foundation stones were laid today. Delivering ₹6,114 crore worth of work in two and a half years is a major challenge, as sewer networks and STPs routinely face land, tendering and technical hurdles. The government claims monitoring will be strict, but past promises on Yamuna cleaning were not kept on time — so all eyes will be on this deadline.
If the package is completed on schedule, more than 36 lakh residents so far deprived of sewerage facilities will get them, and untreated sewage flowing into the Yamuna will fall sharply. But it is also true that a river’s cleanliness is decided not by infrastructure alone, but by its maintenance and continuous monitoring. Two and a half years from now, the Yamuna’s water itself will tell how successful this ₹8,941-crore bet has been.
Disclaimer: This report has been prepared on the basis of available sources and verification. Corrections will be published in case of any factual error.
